Spiders
by Patricia Sage
Summary: Jace was grinning.  "Come on, surely you've got a phobia or two.  What scares you?"  Alec thought for a moment.  "Spiders," he said.   City of Ashes, pg. 283  A backstory on Alec's arachnaphobia.


**Author's Note: Hey hey! I'm back with another Mortal Instruments fanfiction. This one isn't a multi-chapter, though. And, sadly, no Magnus. :( Aw. Oh well. Enjoy! :D**

**AlecPOV **

Our first mission. I was nervous. What if we messed up? What if one of us got hurt? I mean, this was the first time that we had gone hunting alone, the first time that no adult Shadowhunter was there giving us advice and telling us what to do. Of course, Jace was completely confident that he was already the best fighter there ever was and Isabelle didn't seem to care. She had on that superior and impassive look that she gets when she's trying to impress someone, to show them that she is just as good-even better -as them. I, on the other hand, didn't even want to go. The only reason I came was because I knew that the others would get in trouble and possibly hurt if I wasn't there to watch their backs.

Hodge had sent us to an abandoned factory that had been checked for low demon levels. He told us that we'd start with small raids, just a few demons to rid of, then we'd go on to eliminating nests of them. When we had been told that, Jace had wanted to skip right to the nests. 'The more the messier.' He had stated cheerfully. Isabelle had made a face. She doesn't like getting dirty. Honestly, I think that those're the things that will get them killed: Jace's recklessness and Isabelle's superiority.

We crept along the dirt-covered floor of the factory, not making any sounds. I felt the sting of the freshly-applied marks, smelled the musty and stale odour of the factory, heard the steady dripping of moisture from an unknown source. I was completely alert, ready for anthing. Jace checked to see where our targets where. The demon levels were still low and coming from a room to the back of the factory. We ran lightly across the room until we reached the entrance to our destination. Jace looked back at my sister and me, grinning his usual reckless grin. He saw my worried expression and slapped me lightly on the cheek. "Loosen up a bit, Alec. This is gonna be a piece of cake."

I sighed. "I hope so." I knew that Jace was probably right; it's not like we hadn't handled a couple of demons before, but it was different knowing that if you mess up then an adult is right there to step in. Jace and Isabelle were barely fifteen and I was sixteen-the normal age for Shadowhunters to start on their own. So why was I so nervous? Because, as Isabelle would say, I 'worry too much'. We already had seraph blades out and ready, exept for Isabelle, who favored her whip.

We all tensed up then, in one fluid motion, opened the rusty door and appeared inside the room. Hodge told us that the first thing you do when you enter an unfamiliar battleground is to observe your surroundings. It was a very large room with four cement walls and pipes running along them. Surprisingly, I could hear the water running through them-they were still functional. Oh, and there was also a huge spider seated at the farthest wall.

The three of us froze and stared at the creature. When I say 'huge' I mean 'massive'. Standing up, it would be the height of a grandfather clock and as wide as a staircase. It clung to a semi-transparent web that was strung along the whole wall and just stayed there, suspended. It seemed to be watching us. I wondered what it ate.

"Jace, we should leave." I said in a whisper.

My parabatai had that determined and almost crazed look in his eyes and I knew what the answer would be before he said it. "Come on, Alec! We can take it."

I shook my head. "No, Jace!" We were speaking as quiet as possible so not to desturb the creature which hadn't made a move yet. Maybe it was blind? "Let's go!"

Isabelle decided to join the conversation. I kept an eye on the arachnid as we grouped together. "Please, Alec! It would be so awesome to tell everybody that we took this thing down on our first solo mission!" I pursed my lips. I really didn't want to do this, but I knew that Jace and Isabelle would not budge. I didn't get a chance to start up my arguement because Jace chose that moment to attack the thing. I had time to hiss his name once before he was on it, his seraph blade flashing in the dim light. I moved to cover him as the giant spider shreiked and moved away before Jace's blade could pierce it. That thing moved fast! Jace was counting on its size to be an advantage for us, but that was obviously not the case. The creature had size and speed on its side. Another thing that Jace didn't think of (did he even stop to think?) was the web behind the spider. When Jace had slashed at it and it had moved, Jace's seraph blade had swiped the web instead and stuck there. He tugged on it a few times to try and dislodge it but had no success.

I had reached the place where he was fighting then, ready to defend him, but the spider made an unexpected move towards us, sweeping with its two front legs. The left one caught me in a blow across the chest, making me fly back to the opposite wall. The other limb had hit Jace in the opposite direction, forcing him into the sticky web, where he was caught like...well, like a fly in a web.

The spider hadn't taken a shot at Isabelle, so she chose that moment to jump forward. She dodged a flailing limb and brought her whip down. The spider moved, but not fast enough. The golden weapon sliced one of the legs clean off. It shrieked an inhuman shriek, then unexpectedly, a whiteish substance shot out from between its pincers. I had just regained my balance, a slight ache in my chest, when the stuff hit Isabelle, binding her. It was the same substance that the web was made of and Isabelle was forced into the web beside her adoptive brother.

Of course. My worst nightmare had come true. My siblings in danger and me the only one that could save them. I hadn't even liked spiders in the first place. I took a deep breath and concentrated like Hodge had taught me to. Whenever in a tough and/or stressful situation, don't let it control you, just focus. The spider turned to me as I got myself together. When I was collected, I stared at it, trying to find a weakness. Obviously, I would have to attack the side that Isabelle had severed the leg on. It would give me an advantage. The arachnid seemed to size me up, also. It deffinatly wasn't blind.

Before I could make a move, though, Isabelle did, surprising both me and the creature. The web-substance had taken her in the stomach, which left her arms free for movement. Also, she hadn't dropped her whip in the attack. She reared it back now and brought it down with a snap onto the bloated body of the thing. If I thought that this situation couldn't get any worse, I was completely wrong. The whip cut deep into the hide of the spider, but instead of drawing blood, it seemed to open, like the undoing of a zipper. Hundreds of smaller spiders scuttled out of the gaping wound until the creature we had been originally fighting looked more like a deflated balloon and that half of the room was covered in tiny arachnids.

The movement of hundreds of the little things crawling over eachother and around the floor almost made me dizzy, if it weren't for one of the runes I had on. I could hear Isabelle and Jace screaming for me to run as they started advancing toward me, but I couldn't leave my siblings here alone, trapped and imobile. What would the little things do to them once I was gone? No, I had to fight this one out.

They came at me like a wave, stumbling over the ones in front to get to me first. I grimly prepared for their attack. When the first one got in range, I started slicing at as many as I could with my seraph blade. I cut a few in half before they caught on. They were smart little buggers and fast too. They started to dodge my attacks, then one of them shot a web at my blade and it stuck to it. The thing threw it into the sea of spiders. I was now only left with a spare seraph blade and my stele. Why didn't I bring any more weapons! I didn't have a choice, so I brough out my last seraph blade and named it quickly, as the spiders were advancing far faster than I was fending them off. I could feel them as dozens of them went after my legs, biting and scratching.

I realized that it was a distinct possibility that these things were poisonous. Usually, spiders this size compared to the mother wouldn't have much venom, but a lot of bites would do the trick. I chased that thought away because if I didn't keep my head in this, it wouldn't matter how poisonous they were because I would already be dead. As it became harder to stab at them through the throng of arachnids, I realized I needed to change my tactic. This wasn't getting me anywhere. I needed to do something, anything. My failure would be not only death for me, but for my siblings also.

'Use the information and observations you have already taken'. Hodge's voice was in my head, repeating what he had told us in training. What observations? It was hard to concentrate while fighting for my life, but I tried to remember what I had seen, what I had heard. Then, suddenly, I knew what I had to do.

It was hard to see and move among the sheer number of horrible creatures swarming over me, but I looked up to the roof where the pipes ran. I looked down at the seraph blade I was holding, smeared with blood-both the spiders' and mine-then brought it back and hurled it toward them. Time seemed to slow down as I released my only weapon and defence. I watched it fly through the air and hit the pipe. By sheer luck it managed to hit one of the connectors, which made the pipe split. I could hear Jace and Isabelle screaming again, but I couldn't make out anything they were saying. It wouldn't matter if I could. There was nothing more I could do. I watched with detatched fascination as the breach in the pipe grew, cracks spidering (ha-ha) along the rusted metal surface until it burst. There was a lot of water running through that pipe and it all came pouring into the room.

I tried to fend off the spiders with my fists, but I was quickly succumbed into the mob. The last thing I was aware of was being smothered in writhing and crawling bodies as they swarmed all over me, trying to gain access into my mouth, everywhere. I couldn't fight back anymore. The venom and the fatigue finally caught up to me and I succumbed to the darkness...

**JacePOV **

I watched in complete and utter horror and fear as Alec fought off the spiders. I couldn't move at all, I was completely trapped and unable to come to my parabatai's aid when he needed me. I was reminded of the way I had felt watching my father die. It was much the same, exept I cared for Alec more than I cared about my father.

Suddenly, Alec flung his seraph blade-his last remaining weapon-up to the roof. What was he doing! I realized his reason when the pipe burst, letting the water gush out into the room, affectively drowning and weakening most of the smaller spiders. The best part of it was when the released water came in contact with the web, Isabelle and I were released as well. The water must have countered the stickiness of the stuff.

I didn't think about that, though. I didn't think about anything besides getting to Alec. I tore a seraph blade out of my belt and slashed at as many of the little monsters as I could. Isabelle was making quick work with her whip, pulverizing them like they had ruined her new shoes. We got to Alec quickly, considering most of the buggers where half-drowned already. I dropped to Alec's side as Isabelle made sure that each and every spider was dead. I could hear her cursing as she did her work, but that was just background noise that I didn't pay attention to. I was too preocupied with Alec.

He was still alive, but barely breathing. Those things must have been poisonous and Alec had been bitten many times. He was covered in cuts and bites and was bleeding all over. I rested my head against his chest just to make sure that his heart beat. I held him close to me as tears slipped from my eyes. Isabelle came up behind me. Her expression was horrified and terrified. "Is he..."

I shook me head. "No. Not dead." I gently brushed his soaking hair back from his forehead, then looked up at Isabelle again, who also had tears running down her face. That was normal for Isabelle, but crying wasn't something I did often. "We have to get help."

Isabelle nodded, seeming relieved to have something useful to do. "I'll go. You stay with him." I nodded and she sprinted out of the room. I looked back down at my parabatai. He was so pale. If I couldn't see the rise and fall of his chest, I would have thought he was dead. Oh, what have I done?

"It's all my fault." I wasn't crying, but I was close to. He wasn't dead. He wasn't dead. "I'm so sorry, Alec. You didn't even want to do this. You told us to leave, but I'm so stupid and reckless." I swallowed hard. I knew that the way I was was bound to get somebody hurt again. "And you were the one who was punished for it. And I couldn't do anything about it. I just sat there while you almost died! Alec, I-"

I cut off because Alec's eyes suddenly fluttered open. The blue was a startling contrast to the red splotches on his pale face. "...Jace?" His voice was hoarse and he coughed a little. He seemed to be having trouble staying conscious. Isabelle needed to hurry.

"Yeah. Alec, I'm right here."

"You and Isabelle," He coughed again. "You're alright?"

I shook my head. Of course that's the only thing that he was worried about. "Yes. We're fine. Isabelle went to get help."

His eyes started to close again but he forced himself to stay alert. "And...are they all dead?"

There was something in his eyes that I had never seen before. Fear. Oh shit. Of course a tramatic experience like this would scar him but physically and emotionally. I knew that Alec would be arachnaphobic from now on. "Yes. We killed every last one." I knew I had to keep him talking until Isabelle came back; we didn't know how fatal the venom was. "That was quick thinking, taking out the pipe. Pretty much all of them drowned before Izzy and I had a chance to hack at them."

He nodded. "How..." Another cough, "how did you get out? Of the web."

"It was the water that did the trick. The place flooded and we were free."

Alec managed another nod. "Good."

I was filled with immense releif when Isabelle then burst into the room followed by Robert and Maryse. I was still holding Alec in my arms and we were both soaked with water and blood. Alec and Isabelle's parents moved across the room like lightning and were soon by my side. "Alec?" Maryse cried urgently. He didn't answer. I realized that he must have fallen unconscious when they had arrived; that was the only time I hadn't been watching him.

Robert joined his wife. They didn't ask the most obvious question-what happened?-so I assumed that Isabelle must have told them everything. I wondered how they had gotten here so fast; the Institute was quite a ways away from this factory. Maryse answered my unspoken question by taking charge. "Okay, Robert you take Alec. We have to get him through the portal and to the Institute as quickly as possible." So they had taken a portal from the Institute. No wonder they had gotten here so fast. Thank the Angel. Robert gently picked up and carried his eldest son out of the door. Alec was limp in his father's arms, but I could see a faint and unconscious flinch on his face when he was lifted. Isabelle, Maryse and I followed his burly figure as we exited the room. I tried to ignore the sounds that resounded when we ended up stepping on one of the dead creatures.

Robert stepped through the portal which was lighting up the larger room that we entered. The rest of us followed closely behind. When I got my bearings on the other side of the portal, I saw that a warlock was waiting patiently on the other side. Maryse and Robert must have been hosting her as a client. She had dark pink hair and little ears on the top of her head. She silently followed us as we made our way to the infermery. Maryse called for Hodge and soon the man appeared at the top of the stairs. He was dressed in his costomary suit and tie, but there was a worried frown on his face that wasn't normally seen unless it had to do with us children. Hodge cares about us too much.

He came up to Isabelle and me and kept us back while the adults brought Alec to one of the white beds. "What happened?" He asked. So Isabelle hadn't had time to tell Hodge. I could tell she didn't want to say it again, so I outlined the ordeal for him. Hodge cursed. "But, the demon levels were low!" Isabelle cried. She was close to panicking. "How did this happen?"

Hodge though about it. "I think that the spider must have somehow been contaminated with demon poison and it reacted by growing larger and maybe she had had eggs in her when it happened, so the hatching process was altered." He mused. "I'll have to do some research on it some other time. Right now we have to help Alec."

That comment brought our attention to the group of three people surrounding the bed. Alec's parents and the warlock were studying him, but it was clear that they weren't sure what to do. Maryse was getting impatient and was stressing that something had to be done, and soon. Hodge came forward and said a few words to them. Something about potions that he could make. He swiftly exited the room to get supplies while the warlock discussed what could be done for Alec and what it would cost them. I heard Robert say "It doesn't matter the cost, just make my son well!" And the warlock agreed.

Isabelle and I were ushered out of the room. Not knowing what else to do, we both ventured to the library and tried to read on our demonology. But, I knew that neither of us could even come close to concentrating. All I could see was Alec standing alone in the middle of the room, waiting for the onslaught of spiders to come forth, while Isabelle and I could only hang there and watch. I had never felt so useless and powerless in my life. Isabelle looked up from the page she had been staring blankly at. "It was all our fault." She stated. Exactly what I had been thinking for the past hour. "If we hadn't pushed him...he wanted to leave, but we're so foolish-" Isabelle broke off and started to cry silently. Isabelle never cried for something unless it was really close to and important to her, like Alec.

I moved from the armchair I had been sitting in and sat beside her on the couch, giving her a hug. I couldn't reassure her on every aspect, though. "It was our fault." Isabelle nodded into my chest. "But, he's not dead. In fact, I know he'll make it." Isabelle nodded again and her flow of tears subsided.

She wiped her eyes. "Yeah. You're right." We sat there like that, contemplating our predicament. Suddenly a stressed-looking Maryse came into the room and informed us that Alec was going to be fine and that he was awake and talking. She said he wanted to see Izzy and me.

The moment we entered the room, we didn't even give our older brother a chance to speak, just enveloped him in a group hug. "By the Angel, Alec you scared us to death. Don't do that ever again."

**Author's Second Note: Okay suckish ending! Oh well. Hey guys, please review and tell me what you thought. Was the action written okay? And, don't get me wrong, I love it when people Alert/Favorite my story, but please post a review telling me why you liked it, alrighy?**

**Take care.**  
**-Patricia Sage**


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